Jarvis Hunt is an architect of national importance.

"One of the country's greatest architects at the turn of the twentieth century."
-- Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, 2007

"A famous Chicago architect. ...
Kansas City is fortunate enough
to be blessed with three buildings designed by architect Jarvis Hunt."
-- Buildings Magazine, 2003

Jarvis Hunt has a building on the recent list
of America's 150 favorite buildings: Kansas City Union Station.
There is an important book about this station.
See Spivak.

Jarvis Hunt has a building on the recent list
of 150 Great Illinois Places: Joliet Union Station.

Jarvis Hunt had a national practice.
He designed and built buildings in at least 15 states,
from Vermont and New Jersey to Arizona and California.

Jarvis Hunt won an Honorable Mention in the
worldwide competition for the Tribune Tower.

Jarvis Hunt is recognized for his work in several
different types of commission:

Rail stations:
Kansas City, Dallas, Oakland, and Joliet;
plus small stations at
Marshall and Mexico, Missouri;
Chickasha, Oklahoma;
Brownwood and Temple, Texas.
Besides the three large union stations, these include
stations specifically for the Union Pacific,
the Chicago & Alton, the Rock Island, and the Santa Fe.

Buildings for the Armed Forces:
Great Lakes Naval Training Station:
the original complex of about 40 buildings.

Large commercial buildings:

five in Chicago of 10 stories or more (three extant)

buildings of 9 stories or more
in Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City,
Omaha, Pittsburgh, and St. Paul (all extant)

Many of Jarvis Hunt's works were published and/or illustrated
in the architectural press; see the list of works.

Jarvis Hunt has been recognized for his creative use of
decorative brick in commercial buildings.
See Condit re Kelley Maus;
Architectural Record re the Rector Building;
and especially the Southern Pacific Building in Houston.

Jarvis Hunt also plays a significant role in the history
of city planning in America.

Jarvis Hunt was one of the leaders of the City Beautiful movement
in Chicago, from at least 1904 -- well before the publication
of the Plan of Chicago -- to at least 1918.

"The initial proposal to expand [Michigan Avenue]
into a grand shore drive along Grant Park,
with landscaped dividing islands as well as parkway strips,
was made by architect Jarvis Hunt at a meeting with the
South Park Commissioners in 1904.
This proposal became a central feature of Burnham's
plan for the downtown arteries ... ."
Carl W. Condit,
"Chicago 1910-29 Building, Planning, and Urban Technology,"
University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1973,
page 53, note 3.

In the early stages of the plan to connect Michigan Avenue
to the North Side via a Pine Street bridge,
Jarvis Hunt played a leading role. He served
(pro bono) on civic committees to study the alternative
of bridge or tunnel, to choose the route, and
to appraise the affected private properties.

As late as 1918, Jarvis Hunt continued to serve
on The Architects Committee for the
North Michigan Avenue Development.

It was also Jarvis Hunt who brought forward the idea
of straightening the Chicago River where it bowed
to the east between 18th Street and the Loop.
"Clark and Trainer ... in 1913 ... formed the Michigan Avenue Trust Estate
to purchase the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Street ...
Their architect was Jarvis Hunt, a visionary who shared Clark's interest
in urban planning. In 1912 Hunt had presented the plan
to the Chicago Real Estate Board that resulted in the straightening
of the Chicago River south of Van Buren Street.
Straightening the river, Hunt believed, would ease congestion
in the South Branch and facilitate drainage in the area."
Miles L. Berger, "They built Chicago," Chicago, Bonus Books, 1992, page 176

Union Station in Kansas City is the supreme landmark building
of that city (which is now larger than St. Louis,
Cincinnati, or Pittsburgh).

Jeffrey Spivak's 1999 book, "Union Station, Kansas City,"
is devoted entirely to this building complex
and its role in the history of Kansas City.

Jarvis Hunt was "An outspoken proponent of
the City Beautiful movement."
-- Kansas City Public Library

William H. Wilson's 1964 book, "The City Beautiful Movement
in Kansas City," devotes one of its eight chapters
to "Jarvis Hunt and his Union Station."

Golf.

Jarvis Hunt was one of about a dozen amateur golfers
from Illinois to compete in the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games.
(couldn't resist)